November 23, 2003

LOON IGG

Confused cartoonist Michael Leunig -- he wants us all to forgive Osama bin Laden, but he hates men in suits -- has alienated so many people that these days his only friends are the reptiles on his farm:

"I've found the last couple of years difficult in some regards because I've had a lot of hostility," Leunig says. "I've encountered difficulty with editors, condemnation in letters pages, hostility from other columnists, including Clive James, who damned me publicly in a piece in the paper.

"But, you see, I have little brown snakes and big brown snakes which I meet between here and the studio on my way to work which are far more real and serious and beautiful ..."

Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mike. Leunigís latest cartoon in the Sydney Morning Herald -- no link available, so prevail upon any nearby tard to draw a few bulb-headed things; Iíll provide the text -- features this Q & A:

Q: It is now estimated that 55,000 Iraqis were killed in the recent invasion of their homeland. Ten times as many were ruined or crippled. Should a monument be made for those media people who worked so hard to promote and support this war?

A: Ah yes, good point. But donít worry, those people will always be remembered ... although they really do deserve something more.

Something more? Is this a threat? Leunigís tone sure has changed. He used to be so huggy and lovey, even to psychotic murderers:

On Christmas Eve, in the Melbourne Age, another pundit, Michael Leunig, called for a national prayer for Osama bin Laden on Christmas Day. "It's a family day," Leunig explained, "and Osama's our relative."

Sickening, isnít it. I wish all Leunigís whimsical characters would take the Drinky Crow option.

Arrested development is not to be confused with the state of being in touch with ones inner child. This condition is now called metroman or metro...meats, no...metroboy ? I dunno, I'm still undergoing reconstruction.

Where does the 55,000 dead come from, and the 550,000 crippled? Surely this would make wonderful pictures for the anti-Bush types. Let's see the pictures. That would be one out of 45 Iraqis crippled. Shouldn't be too hard to locate a few hundred of them. Check the (now operational) hospitals.

Earlier, there had been more oddball antics as Jackson prepared to leave the Green Valley Ranch, a luxury Vegas resort where he had been staying while filming a new video.

The source said: "Jackson's handlers noticed he was missing and when they went searching, they found him outside the private bungalow. When asked what he was doing, he said that he saw a field mouse and wanted to play with it, but was unable to find it."

I also would question Leunigs figures - does he think he can get away with it just because it is a cartoon. It reminds me of an email exchange I had with Richard Neville not so long ago, where he blithely asserted the frequent claim made by the left that the US intervntion in Panama cost 3000 Panamanina civilian lives. I pointed out that this figure is derived by simply adding a zero to the end of the accepted Human Rights Watch figure of 300 deaths. I pointed out that the precedent for thsi kind of casualty inflation was originally Joseph Goebels , who on receiving the casualty estimate from Dresden simply reissued it after multiplying the estimate by 10. To this day there are thsoe like David Irving who cite the figure of 250,000 - 300,000 dead at dresden as opposed to 25,000 - 30,000.
Leunigs figures sue the same tactic as Goebels

Leunigs pretty good. And so's that Palestinian Cartoonist-Apologists, who's made the rounds, before. But, Tim, before you ban my IP (joking), let me add this.
I can appreciate their asthetic, even while dismissing their statements. Kind of like that with Doonesbury. I was a fan of his for many years, but the only time I seem to recall reading him recently, is when you've linked to him. The Right (and the lib means Correct) needs a full spectrum smackdown of the the Wrong (the left, and assorted hanger ons).
Weekly Standards, NRO, Fox are outposts. The "Return of Men in Hollywood" meme (back, I suppose from banging drums and group hugs) is a dam*ed good thing.
The Right (Correct) need to leverage all available talent.
The Wrong has the asthetic, but that doesn't have to remain.
Just a little shove....
They'd appreciate it; I'm sure they're tired--- or at least their ideas are.

His figures re civilian v military deaths are misleading, too. More civilians than soldiers now die in war because most wars are being fought within and not between states. Think Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kosovo. Not Iraq.